Archive | Press Release

Right to Ban Aerial Spraying Passes in Lincoln County

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Mary Geddry

541-551-1492

Voters in Lincoln County have adopted Measure 21-177 by 61 votes. The delay in the final ballot count came as voters who had not signed their ballots were given the opportunity to sign. Voters had until 5pm this evening to make their ballots official with a signature. The vote count at the end of election night had the measure passing by 27 votes.

“It’s been over thirty years since aerial spraying of pesticides have been poisoning our county, so waiting a few more days to confirm that the people of Lincoln County are ready to put that toxic legacy in the past has been well worth it”, says Rio Davidson of Citizens of a Healthy County. “Our right to a healthy environment is key to our quality of life and livelihoods and the people in Lincoln County are done with the timber industry sacrificing our future.”

Measure 21-177 prohibits the aerial spray of pesticides in-order to secure the right to clean air, water, and the overall right to health of people and ecosystems. The common practice of the industrial timber industry is to aerial-spray toxic pesticides (1 to 2 applications yearly for the first 3 to 5 years of growth) on clear-cuts to kill off vegetation “competing” with the growth of newly planted and young commodity crop trees.

“A line has been drawn in the sand by the people of Lincoln County that says our right to decide on protecting our right to clean water, personal health, and protection for ecosystems is more important than allowing a corporate agenda to continue to cause harm to the community.”, says Nancy Ward, board member of the Oregon Community Rights Network (ORCRN).

Despite the affirmative vote of the people of Lincoln County in saying yes to Measure 21-177, Citizens for a Healthy County and the ORCRN are anticipating that the timber industry or supporters of the timber industry will not honor the new law prohibiting aerial spraying and will file a lawsuit to block or overturn the law. Such a lawsuit will pit the right of a community self-government authority to protect health, safety, and welfare against corporate activities that threaten or harm the community’s rights.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

To learn more about Measure 21-177 go to www.yes-on-21-177.org.

“Wins” in Lincoln and Coos

Ballot measures to secure a right to a sustainable energy future went down in Coos County and the right to be free from aerial spray of pesticides in Lincoln County is currently passing by 27 votes!

Tuesday, May 17, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Mary Geddry
[email protected]
541-551-1492

CORVALLIS – Voters in Coos and Lincoln counties cast votes for citizen qualified ballot measures in the May election where over $1.3 million dollars was spent by corporate interests to defeat them. Measure 6-162, Coos County’s Right to a Sustainable Energy Future ordinance, was rejected by a vote of 76% to 24% and Measure 21-177, Freedom from Aerial Sprayed Pesticides of Lincoln County ordinance, is currently on the road to passing by 27 votes. About one hundred ballots are in question (mostly do to lack of voter signatures), and once those issues are resolved there will be a final ballot count, which isn’t expected until the end of May.

“Once the smoke clears what we are going to see is even more people in Coos County determined to secure our community rights, our right of local self-government. We see that as a big win from last night not how the vote turned out”, says Mary Geddry of Coos Commons Protection Council, drafters of Measure 6-162. “Strange as it may sound, we have the opposition to Measure 6-162 to thank for waking more of us up to the fact that we don’t live in a democracy especially when you witness first hand a Canadian fossil fuel company buying an American election.”

Measure 6-162 in Coos County would have secured a right to a sustainable energy future. The law would have protected that right by prohibiting non-sustainable energy projects including the proposed pipeline and LNG export terminal at Jordan Cove.

“Though we have our fingers crossed that we will prevail, this campaign has already been a win because we raised not only the health issue of aerial spraying in the public’s consciousness but also the lengths the corporate timber and chemical industry will go to to cover up the truth”, says Maria Kraus of Citizens for a Healthy County, proponents of Measure 21-177. “Something has shifted in this community and people really feel like they need a larger role in determining the future of this county.”

Measure 21-177 would prohibit the aerial spray of pesticides in order to secure the right to clean air, water, and the overall right to health of people and ecosystems. The common practice of the industrial timber industry is to aerial-spray toxic pesticides (1 to 2 applications yearly for the first 3 to 5 years of growth) on clear-cuts to kill off vegetation “competing” with the growth of newly planted and young commodity crop trees.

“These recent campaigns to secure community rights in Coos and Lincoln counties have helped bring to light the disparity of power that we all face in our communities today, despite the issue, which is that our system often aligns corporations, government, and the law against the interests of people, communities, and the natural environment”, says Dana Allen, board member of the Oregon Community Rights Network (ORCRN).

Through a petitioning committee of the ORCRN a state constitutional amendment is being proposed that would secure the right of local community self-government. Such a change would allow for communities to advance greater protections and rights on the grounds of health, safety, and welfare than the state, and to be able to do so without the interference of corporate claimed “rights”. The local self-governing authority would only allow for advancing protections and rights but not for undermining or taking away such protections and rights as already secured by state or federal governments.

Along with the state initiative petition campaign, local community rights petitioning efforts are underway in Columbia and Lane counties. Columbia residents are and have faced a number of fossil fuel projects, and are advancing a right to a sustainable energy future ordinance for the November 2017 ballot. Lane is actively petitioning for a ban on aerial spray of herbicides and the right of local community self-government, aiming for the May 2018 ballot.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
To learn more about the ORCRN please visit www.orcrn.org. Information on the ballot measures in Coos County and Lincoln County: yeson6-162.org and yes-on-21-177.org. Information on the right of local community self-government state constitutional amendment can be found here: www.oregoncommunityrights.org

ABOUT THE ORCRN – OREGON COMMUNITY RIGHTS NETWORK
The ORCRN is a 501(c)(3) made up of community rights activists from various communities in Oregon. The mission of the ORCRN is to support and empower communities to secure local self-determination and self-governance rights, superior to corporate power, in order to protect fundamental rights, quality of life, the natural environment, public health, and safety.

Right of Local Self-Government Initiative Vindicated

Court rules in favor of constitutional amendment effort, calls out State’s obstructionist actions.

CORVALLIS – The citizen-led petitioning initiative effort to amend the Oregon constitution to secure the Right of Local Community Self Government has been cleared by a Marion County circuit court judge to gather signatures for the November 2018 ballot.

The Oregon Secretary of State’s office denied petition circulation back in April 2016 on the claimed grounds that the initiative did not meet certain procedural requirements. An oral hearing was held in front of Judge Bennett of the Marion County circuit court back in November 2016. The wrongful claims of the state denied the opportunity to move forward on the statewide citizen initiative for the November 2016 ballot.

A key question of the case also dealt with whether there was an overreach by the State in its authority to interfere with the lawmaking process, in this case the lawmaking powers of the people of Oregon.

Judge Bennett wrote in his decision that,

“It is tempting to delve into the language and meaning of IP 55 [Right of Local Community Self-Government amendment]…However, those are subjects for the Citizens of Oregon to consider and debate. It is not for a few members of the executive or judicial branch to chill public discourse…The Citizens of Oregon, in their legislative capacity, bear the burden of debating these issues and determining the course of action. Limiting, stopping, or redirecting discussion on IP 55 [Right of Local Community Self-Government amendment] through Executive Action or Judicial Opinion is contrary to, and chilling of, public political speech.”

Oregon’s Right of Local Community Self-Government amendment to the constitution would secure the right of local communities to move forward protections, on the basis of health, safety, and welfare, to a higher degree than the state. The amendment would also limit the ability of corporations to override that right of lawmaking powers. The right of local community self-government would allow for the expansion of protections or the defense of existing protections if the state lessens such protections, but it would not allow communities to adopt laws that would lessen already instituted rights and protections recognized by state, federal, or international law.

Oregon has a long history of using state preemptive power, often at the behest of corporate interests, to put in place a ceiling and/or outright prohibition on the decision making powers by communities on critical issues. Recent and substantial preemptive laws have come against local control of GMOs, citizen votes on annexation, raising minimum wage, rent control, and toxic pesticide practices by industrialized agriculture and timber.

“We knew we were right and the State was wrong, and it feels good to be vindicated” says Rob Dickinson, petition coordinator for Oregonians for Community Rights. “This effort to have our right of local community self-government constitutionally recognized is long overdue both for what we’ve suffered here at the hands of the state government as well as what we are seeing unfolding today at the federal level where it comes to the rights of people and the natural environment.”

Dickinson goes on to say, “With the green light to gather signatures it’s time to put in the hard work to qualify the amendment for the ballot and then pass it!”

To qualify for the November 2018 ballot the petition initiative will need to collect about 125,000 valid signatures.

At the time of this announcement the state has not made it known if they will appeal the decision.

Thank you to Ann Kneeland for representing us and doing a magnificent job!!

Big Oil and Gas Threaten Community Self-Determination with New State Preemption Legislation

Oregon HB 2480 would expressly preempt local governments from any
authority over the transportation or storage of fossil fuels.

Legislation That is Part of a Pattern of States Denying Local Democratic Rights

Wednesday, February 9, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Mary Geddry
[email protected]
541-551-1492

CORVALLIS – HB 2480 was introduced in January by Oregon House Representative Bentz on behalf of Pac/West. The aim of HB 2480, as summarized on the Oregon State Legislature website, is to, “Preempt city, county or other local government from enacting charter provision, ordinance, resolution or other provision regulating expansion of infrastructure for primary purpose of transporting or storing fossil fuels.” The bill currently sits in the House Committee on Energy and Environment.

Pac/West is a corporate public relations and lobbyist firm based in Salem, Oregon. The organization has been assisting in advancing pro-drilling agendas in Colorado over the last four years. Colorado fracked gas would be transported through the Oregon Pacific Connector pipeline/Jordan Cove export terminal if that fossil fuel project were to be operationalized.

In December 2016, Portland banned any new fossil fuel storage facilities as well as the expansion of existing facilities through a zoning law.

Coos County will be voting on Measure 6-162 in May which would secure a Right to a Sustainable Energy Future that would prohibit unsustainable fossil fuel projects like Jordan Cove. Columbia County is currently circulating an initiative petition to be on the November ballot for a similar rights-based law as Coos County.

Under HB 2480 no communities – city or county – could adopt such laws as Portland, Coos, and Columbia, and the new law would presumably nullify any existing local laws found to be in conflict.

Pattie Gouveia, co-lead on the YES on Measure 6-162 campaign in Coos County, stated, “The transportation, storage, and burning of fossil fuels is absolutely a local issue, whereby the local must be able to assert the greatest authority about what happens in the community. HB 2480 is just another example of the Oregon legislature advancing corporate interests by denying local democratic rights.”

In addition to recent federal executive orders, applauded by the fossil fuel industry, to continue with the build out of the Dakota Access Pipeline and reactivate the Keystone XL Pipeline, the industry has also been moving legislation and litigation to suppress local control in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, and Colorado in order to advance infrastructure expansion of pipelines, drill wells, and post-drilling waste storage.

“HB 2480 violates not only our right to a healthy climate by accelerating the burning of fossil fuels, but it also violates our right of local self-government. If we, where we live, don’t push for a sustainable energy future, one that doesn’t include fossil fuels and corporate control of energy, who will?”, says Nancy Ward from Columbia County Sustainable Action for a Green Environment.

“GMO seed, annexations, rent control, minimum wage, pesticides are just a few examples of how the state, on behalf of corporations, has commandeered legal authority over our Oregon communities. We have state laws here in Oregon that forbid communities from legislating on any of these issues where it comes to advancing greater health, safety, and welfare protection. HB 2480 is merely the latest on a long list of corporate fed actions by the state to keep communities and the people that live there contained and controlled,” says Dana Allen, board member of the Oregon Community Rights Network.

The Oregon Community Rights Network launched a constitutional amendment effort through Oregonians for Community Rights in 2015 that would secure the right of local community self-government against such preemptive actions of HB 2480.That amendment is currently being blocked for further petition circulation by the state.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

To learn more about the ORCRN please visit www.orcrn.org. Information on Coos County and Columbia County community rights efforts: www.cooscommons.org and https://www.facebook.com/ccsage.org/. More on Oregon’s Right of Local Community Self-Government constitutional amendment: http://oregoncommunityrights.org/amendment/

ABOUT THE ORCRN – OREGON COMMUNITY RIGHTS NETWORK
The ORCRN is a 501(c)(3) made up of community rights activists from various communities in Oregon. The mission of the ORCRN is to support and empower communities to secure local self-determination and and self-governance rights, superior to corporate power, in order to protect fundamental rights, quality of life, the natural environment, public health, and safety.

Right of Community Self-Determination Greater Than Corporate Power in Court

The petition initiative blocked by the State for ballot qualification that would curb corporate power will be heard on Thursday, November 10th

Wednesday, October 26, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Mary Geddry
[email protected]
541-551-1492
http://www.oregoncommunityrights.org/

Eight months since easily collecting the required number of sponsorship signatures for the Right of Local Community Self-Government constitutional amendment, the petition initiative still cannot collect signatures to qualify for the statewide ballot. Blocked by the State, the
initiative will be in court on November 10th to determine if broader petition circulation can continue towards ballot qualification and ultimately the votes of Oregonians.

The Oregon Secretary of State along with the Attorney General’s office made a determination in April that the amendment, as currently written, does not meet the tests for a separate vote and that the initiative is not an amendment but a revision to the constitution.

“The state is wrong here and that will be proven in court”, says Rob Dickinson, petitioning coordinator for Oregonians for Community Rights. ”This initiative is absolutely essential in order for local communities to be able to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their residents. We can’t forget that the Oregon Constitution, in it’s very first section, affirms that all power is inherent in the people and that we have at all times a right to alter or reform the government in whatever manner that we deem proper. Without local community self determination, as affirmed by this initiative, those words are hollow and meaningless.”

Judge Bennett of the Marion County Circuit Court will hear the case at 1:30pm on Thursday, November 10th at the county courthouse in Salem.

The proposed constitutional amendment was drafted by the Oregon Community Rights Network (ORCRN) and their political arm, Oregonians for Community Rights (O4CR). The Right of Local Community Self-Government constitutional amendment would codify into law the right of local community self-government, enabling the people and their local governments to protect fundamental rights and prohibit corporate activities that violate those rights. It would secure the authority of communities to put in place stronger rights and protections than those recognized at the state, federal, or international level, but not reduce higher level governmental protections or rights.

“With its determination against this initiative, the State is championing limitations on the people’s constitutional power to the initiative process”, says Ann Kneeland, attorney for the chief petitioners. “As such, the Chief Petitioners of the initiative are fighting not simply for a
rightful decision from the Court that this amendment meets all procedural requirements to be voted on by the people, but also for the proper administration of the initiative system that empowers direct democracy in Oregon.”

Securing the right of local community self-government is pivotal when it comes to a community’s right to confront or advance vital local issues such as GMO crops, police accountability, pesticide use, fossil-fuel pipelines, living wage, rent control, or land use without the threat of state-sanctioned corporate preemption.

County-level community rights efforts in Oregon have been underway to confront an array of corporate projects from LNG pipelines to pesticides to GMOs to coal and oil trains. In each community the aim is to adopt a Community Bill of Rights law that secures the rights of the people and nature over that of unwanted corporate harms.

Oregon also joins Colorado, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, where communities in those states are working to adopt Community Bill of Rights laws on the local level as well as moving very similar state constitutional amendments to secure the right of local community self-government.
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